My Background 

I have worked with people in the helping professions since 1998.   Currently I work as a face to face counsellor seeing individual, adult clients, both men and women, of all ages from all backgrounds, and walks of life, for individual & couples counselling.

I previousy operated my private practice from offices in Glenfield and Ponsonby in Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand.  However I have now relocated within the Timaru area and my practice operates within Timaru's central business district.  There is plenty of parking (both free and pay) and bus & taxi services are also located close by, for ease of access.

Sessions may also be available in Oamaru for medium and long term counselling (in a discrete central Oamaru CBD location) upon request.  Conditions apply so please contact me to discuss.

Previously in my career I was a telephone counsellor on Youthline's crisis line, a mentor for volunteers coming through the Youthline network and a group facilitator for various Youthline groups. 

Additionally I've spent many years working in, and with, many businesses, both large and small, in a multitude of industries and capacities including a number of Deloitte Top 50 award winners.  I bring all of these experiences, skills and expertise to my work as a face to face counsellor.

I have specialist expertise in personal development/communication skills and telephone counselling training.  Colleagues continue to call on me for professional support in these capacities as well as for general business support.

You are welcome to contact me at any time if you would like to set up an introductory appointment or ask any questions.  I am generally able to respond to enquiries within 24 hours, on the next working day - usually sooner.  

I also welcome students and trainees from within the helping professions (or other professions) who would like to undertake their own counselling process.

If you are a service provider or you have loved ones you would like to refer to me you are welcome to pass my details to them.  You can make contact with me here or by calling me and leaving a message; or sending me an email or text.   

Qualifications & Professional Memberships   

       Dip. Psychosynthesis Counselling (NZ Institute of Psychosynthesis) [1]

      Cert. Sandplay Therapy & Symbol Work (Expressive Therapies Institute of Australia) [2]

      Cert. Te Arataki Manu Korero (Te Wananga Aotearoa)

      Acred. Group Facilitator (Youthline NZ)

      Acred. Phone Counsellor (Youthline NZ)

       Acred. Senior Face to Face Counsellor (Youthline NZ)

      M.N.Z.A.C. (Member NZ Association of Counsellors )

      P.A.N.Z.A. (Clinical Member Psychosynthesis Aotearoa New Zealand Australia)

[1] This Diploma is a Level 7 NZQA qualification and is recognised by NZAC and PANZA.  Level 7-10 qualifications are classed by NZQA as Graduate and Post Graduate qualifications. 

[2] This qualification is a post graduate-style qualification.

 
Further Training 


In addition to my formal qualifications and certifications above, I have undertaken various workshops, seminars and courses over the years.  These include a fundamental exploration of the following modalities (which means ways of working) .  From time to time I may incorporate aspects from these modalities, and others, in my work; along with Psychosynthesis and Sandplay Therapy & Symbol Work techniques:

    * Rogerian Client Centred Counselling
    * CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
    * IDT (Interactive Drawing Therapy)
    * NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)
    * Psychodietetics
    * Transactional Analysis (T/A)
    * Family & Systemic Constellations


Specialities/Expertise    

I have specific experience in working with the following areas:

    * Depression
    * Anxiety
    * Grief
    * Relationships and relationship issues
    * Personal Development
    * Life Transitions
    * Anger
    * Physical Illness
    * Stress/Burn Out
    * Building Self Esteem
    * Spirituality
    * Work Issues
    * Mentoring

I also specialise in working with men and women who want to live more fulfilling lives.  Very basically this means that if you are
looking to make some kind of change in your life, that will positively impact the way you feel about yourself,  your life and/or those around you, then I am well equipped to support you in this process.

I work with adults of all ages (adults in this case being anyone aged 18 to 88 years plus)  from all walks of life and all orientations.  I am accepting and welcoming of difference of all kinds and have been described by close friends and colleagues as being caring, considerate and relatively non-judgemental (I add in the term relatively because we are all human and we all judge - because having judgements are part of our survival mechanisms).  Common examples of difference include our gender, sexuality, race, spiritual beliefs/religion (and/or not having spiritual beliefs/religion), socio-economic status and culture.



Supervision & Ongoing Training/Support 

As a professional counsellor I am committed to undertaking regular Supervision [3], personal therapy and ongoing extension training.  I believe these are vital elements which aid counsellors in continuing to be effective and well balanced in their work and in life.  NZAC also acknowledges these aspects as being important and vital for all professional counsellors. 

[3] Supervision in this context refers to professional counsellors sharing the process of their work with experienced Senior colleague(s) to enable them to work as efficiently and optimally as possible on an ongoing basis; once their formal tertiary training has been completed.

We never work alone and as Sandra Day O'Connor once said (America's first female supreme court judge) 

”We don't accomplish anything in this world alone...

and whatever happens is the result of

the whole tapestry of one's life

and all the weaving's of individual threads

from one to another that creates something.”

For this reason it is also important to me to acknowledge that I do not work in isolation.  I am supported by many networks of people, groups and organisations in my life and work.  Most particularly I want to acknowledge the invaluable support I continue to receive from my partner, friends, family, colleagues and business associates.   Thank you to you all.

About A Time To Talk Counselling  

A Time To Talk is the name of the counselling side of my business, Kaptivate Consulting.  I chose the name 'A Time To Talk' as fundamentally, that's the way I seeing counselling in it's most essential form.    As 'your' time to talk, your space to focus on you. 

For many people having a space, a time just for you, is something rare and precious - for others, entering counselling may be the first time they ever put themselves first! (and start to allow themselves the same TLC they give others in their lives)

As to Kaptivate Consulting...first-off a little about this word, 'Kaptivate'.    You might have guessed already, Kaptivate means the same thing as it's more traditional counterpart, 'captivate', except it has a little more kick, thanks to the letter 'k'! 
 
The way I look at it, we get one chance to live this life.  So I want to make the absolute most of it!  I'm passionate about seeking out those things in life that kaptivate me; be they people, ideas or experiences.   For me life is about experiences, both having experiences and the way we then make sense of our experiences.  I'm immensely willing to share my discoveries because I want everyone to have the opportunity to live the most fulfilling life possible.  You will see various quotes on this site that have kaptivated me in my life - I hope you enjoy!



 
My Core Values

Lewis Carol once said "If you don't know where you're going any road will get you there!"  That's why I believe that having a mission and a vision are very important.

You can read about my mission and vision below.   Values are vital too though, in that they operate like a compass, providing clear direction about 'how' we travel the road through life.   I live by five core values:
 
1.    Integrity
2.    Courage
3.    Kindness
4.    Respect 
5.    Equity (being fair)


 
     Mission & Vision Statement 

Someone once said, "Your Success Is My Success" - I love this concept and I live and breathe this ethos.  With this in mind, my combined 'Mission & Vision Statement' for Kaptivate Consulting is displayed below in italics. 

It's a combined statement because life is always about both aspects; what we are 'being' (our mission) and what we are 'becoming' (our vision). 

These are also core principles and focuses of Psychosynthesis, which is my primary counselling modality (which means the way I work) and I honour the immensely positive and healing impact that Psychosynthesis offers the world by incorporating these joint focuses in my combined mission and vision statement below:

                                              "A More Fulfilling Life For You!"
                                         More You |  More Us |  A Better World!
                             Copyright Kaptivate Consulting Ltd - September 2008 onwards
 

 
Where To From Here? 

You are welcome to contact me at any time if you would like to set up an introductory appointment or ask any questions.  I am generally able to respond to enquiries within 24 hours, on the next working day (usually sooner).     I also welcome students and trainees from within the helping professions (or other professions)  who would like to undertake their own counselling process

If you are a service provider or you have loved ones you would like to refer to me, you are welcome to pass my details to them.  You can call me or send me an email.

I look forward to talking with you.